Tecos eclipse 1st season’s win total, roll over Union Laguna

Jose Oyervides recorded his first victory of the season as the Tecolotes won 8-3 over Union Laguna Wednesday night.

Jose Oyervides recorded his first victory of the season as the Tecolotes won 8-3 over Union Laguna Wednesday night.

Photo: Courtesy Of The Tecolotes Dos Laredos

Photo: Courtesy Of The Tecolotes Dos Laredos

Image
1of/7

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 7

Jose Oyervides recorded his first victory of the season as the Tecolotes won 8-3 over Union Laguna Wednesday night.

Jose Oyervides recorded his first victory of the season as the Tecolotes won 8-3 over Union Laguna Wednesday night.

Photo: Courtesy Of The Tecolotes Dos Laredos

Tecos eclipse 1st season’s win total, roll over Union Laguna

1 / 7

Back to Gallery

Coming off one of their most impressive all-around victories since returning to the sister cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo this season, the Tecolotes Dos Laredos were looking for a return to their winning ways with another ‘W’ on Wednesday.

The Tecolotes picked up an 8-3 victory in Nuevo Laredo against Algodonerous Union Laguna as they clinched the three-game series. They’ll be back in Mexico Thursday at 7 p.m. looking for the home sweep before journeying out for six straight on the road.

With another one under their belts, the Tecolotes improve to 19-13 as they have already eclipsed their win total from the first Mexican Baseball League campaign of 2018 with 23 games still to play. During the first season, the Tecos finished in last place in the LMB at 18-39.

The Tecolotes were tied in second entering the night with Toros de Tijuana in the LMB North division while still in a tight battle for one of the division’s four playoff spots with just a two-game lead over fifth place. Tijuana won 12-3 at Saltillo to remain in a second-place tie.

Union Laguna falls to 12-20 as it remains in last place in the North now five games out of postseason play.

Wednesday’s game was in front of a season-low 1,887 fans. The Tecolotes are averaging 2,639 fans over six games in Nuevo Laredo during the LMB’s second season and 5,045 fans over nine games in Laredo. Their only lower attendance this year came in the first season when they had 1,232 during a rain-delayed outing at Uni-Trade Stadium on April 25.

The Tecolotes had everything working on all cylinders to open the series on Tuesday night. Not only did the pitching record its fifth shutout of the season — allowing a year-low three hits in the process — but the offense roared to a 12-0 victory.

On the mound Wednesday was Jose Oyervides and he kept the team’s hot streak rolling. The Laredo College product continued to pitch well this season as he threw five scoreless innings before the Algodoneros finally got to him in the sixth thanks to an error.

Oyervides gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings of work with four strikeouts and two walks in the victory. He finally picked up his first win of the season, as it had eluded him despite his stellar start. Oyervides improves to 1-0 with a 2.32 ERA — the sixth-best ERA in the LMB directly behind teammate Terance Marin (3-0, 2.00 ERA), who won Tuesday’s game.

The Tecolotes took the lead in the second kicking off four consecutive innings scoring at least a run for a 6-0 edge through five frames. That offense was more than enough as they finished with a 13-6 edge in hits.

Third baseman Daniel Mayora and second baseman Juan Martinez each had two hits and two runs scored while catcher Gilberto Galviz was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs out of the No. 9 hole. Shortstop Josh Rodriguez (1-4, HR, 2 RBI) finished with a two-run homer while center fielder Johnny Davis (2-5, R, RBI) and first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor (2-5, RBI) both had a pair of hits.

With two outs in the second inning, Rodriguez put the team on the scoreboard first in the second with a two-run homer to left — his fifth of the season. He brought in Mayora (2-4, 2 R), who singled one batter earlier.

Then in the third, Galaviz and Davis walked and singled, respectively, before being both moved into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. That set the table for Domonic Brown and Fuenmayor as each racked up RBI singles for a four-run advantage. Brown started at the DH spot after being pulled just one inning into Tuesday’s game.

Davis added to the lead in the fourth with an RBI single of his own for the 5-0 lead. His was the third consecutive single of the inning piggybacking on hits right before by second baseman Juan Martinez (2-3, R, BB) and Galaviz.

In the fifth, right fielder Roberto Lopez (1-5, R) and Mayora both singled before Martinez walked two batters later to load the bases with two outs. After a wild pitch brought home the first run of the inning, Galaviz doubled to center to drive in two more for the 8-0 lead.

The Algodoneros finally got on the scoreboard for the first time this series in the sixth inning as they got to Oyervides. A pair of singles and a walk in the inning combined with an error by Mayora helped Union Laguna cut the deficit to 8-3.

After the offense was held off the scoreboard for the first time since the opening inning in the sixth, the Tecolotes turned to their bullpen in the seventh to protect their lead. Ivan Zavala entered and quickly retired the side in just eight pitches while recording one strikeout. He followed that up with another perfect frame including a strikeout in the eighth, this time on 10 pitches.

The Tecos went scoreless during their final three innings at the plate, but their lead already built up was more than enough despite some ninth-inning struggles early.

Tony Guerra entered to finish the game out of the bullpen and got the first out on a play to first that was challenged by Union Laguna and upheld. But he allowed the next two to reach base on singles as Tecos manager Felix Fermin was taking no chances and went to his closer Fernando Nieve. He quickly got out of danger with a strikeout and a ground out to end the game in the 8-3 victory.